Combined typewriting and card-perforating machine



March 10, 1931. v J. A. B. SMITH 5 COMBINED TYPEWRIT ING AND CARDPERFORATING MACHINE Filed April 6. 1927 .3 Sheets-Sheet 1 //7 van for":

March 10, 1931. s I 1,795,453

COMBINED TYPEWRITING AND CARD PERFORATING MACHINE Filed April 6. 1927 3Sheets-Sheet 2 March 10, 1931. J. A. B. SMITH COMBINED TYPEWRITING ANDCARD PERFORATING MACHINE Filed April 6. 1927 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Af/a may.

Patented Mar. 10, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JESSE A. B. SMITH, OFSTAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO UNDERWOOD ELLIOTT FISHER COMPANY, OFNEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE COMBINED TYPEWRITING ANDCARD-PERFORATING MACHINE Application filed April 6,

This invention relates to card-feeding means for enabling. an operatorto quickly place a card that is to be typed upon, around the platen oft-ypingmechaiiism. Although the invention may be usefully applied tofeeding cards to any revoluble platen, it is herein illustrated asembodied in a combined typewriting and card-perforating machine of thetype shown in'the pending application of Alfred G. F. Kurowski, No.48,723, filed August 7, 1925 (now Patent No. 1,684,155, dated September11, 1928). The machine described in said application is used forproducing perforated record-cards having typed headings which aredescriptive of the data which isrepresented bythe perforations in saidcard. The perforated record-cards are used in the various well-knownmethods of mechanical accounting.

The bottom edge of a blank card is inserted into a slit or pocketextending lengthwise ofthe typewriter-platen of said machine whichincludes a front strike typewriter. The platen is then rotated through adefinite angle determined by a stop device, thereby bringing the uppermargin of the card quickly and definitely to the printing line of thetype writer; the heading being thus typed upon said upper margin. Theslit or pocket in which the bottom edge of the card is inserted is, atthe time of such insertion, at the front of the platen*and atabout thelevel of the printing line. Said slit or pocket is usually formed by astepped margin of astrip that is curved agains'; the surface of theplaten, the strip necessarily being of thin material, so as not tocreatean undue bulge in the platen-surface. Heretofore, a card waspicked from a stack'by hand and inserted'into said slit by hand, amethod obviously lacking in the dispatch usually associated with theoperation of typewriter-mechanism. A s just stated, the slit itself isuseful, once a card is inserted therein, for quickly and definitelybringing a portion of the card to be typed upon the printing line.

An object of the invention is to provide card-feeding means which willco-operate with said slit or similar device to the end that a card maybe quickly picked from a supply 1927. Serial No. 181,371.

Powers card-perforator is of the type shown v in United States patent toW. V. Lasker, No. 1,305,557, dated June 3, 1919, and will hereinafter becalled the card-perforator.

The card-perforator has a nest of punches arranged indenominationalcolumns. Above the punches and aligned therewith is asimilar nest of index-pins which are individually settable by movingthem endwise and latching them after they have beenthus moved. The indexpins are settable, one column at a time, the selection of any pin orpins in a column being controlled by means of pinsetting plungersarranged in a denominationdetermining carriage, which, with saidplungers, traverses the columns of index-pins step by step in unisonwith the letter-feeding movements of the typewriter-carriage. For thejoint movements of said carriages the denomination-determining carriageis me-. chanically coupled to the typewriter-carriage by means of a rackon each carriage and an intermediate pinion. The carriages move inopposite directions, that is to say, while the typewriter-carriageadvances in letter-feeding steps from right to left, the perforatoncarriage advances in denomination-determining steps from left to right.By means of electro-mechanical connections, the pin-setting plungers areactuated by the operation of corresponding type-keys. Thus, as eachcharacter .is typed a corresponding index-pin is set in the properdenominational column.

A die-plate co-operates with the lower ends of the punches, the upperends of the punches being opposite the lower ends of the indexpins. Thelower ends of the punches are guided in aplate which is separated fromthe die-plate by a gap in which the card to be punched is received. Thepunches and their respective index-pins are arranged vertically and saidcard-gap is thus between two horizontal surfaces formed by the die-plateand punch-guiding plate. The usual perforator feed-rolls draw a card tobe punched into punching position in said gap and simultaneously eject apreviously-punched card. Guides are provided for directing and guiding acard as it is presented to the feedrolls to be drawn into punchingposition. The perforator is behind the typewriter and is soarranged'relatively thereto that said guides are in line with a cardpositioned in the typewriter-platen when said platen is at the end ofthe writing line. A card may therefore be passed directly rearwardlyinto said guides as it is removed from said platen.

The card is removed by rotating the platen in a direction contrary tothe aforesaid rotation of said platen, which brought the upper margin ofsaid card to the writing line. The extent of this contrary rotation isalso determined by a stop, so that the aforesaid slit is at the front ofthe platen again and at a level with the writing line, when the card isremoved and presented rearwardly to the feed-rolls of the perforator.The card is drawn into punching position at the beginning of aperforator cycle which is initiated by pressing a key. During the latterpart of this cycle, the card is punched according to the index-pinswhich were set concomitant ly with the operation of the type-keys. Thetypewriter-carriage is then returned to its starting position for theinsertion of another card around the platen. The perforator-carriage, byreason of its connection to the typewriter-carriage, is returnedsimultaneously and the index-pins are also at the same time, caused tobe restored.

In carrying out the invention, a pack of cards is positioned above theplaten in the starting position of the platen-carriage in such a waythat the first card is directly in line with the slit into which thebottom edge of said first card is to be inserted. For thus holding astack of cards, a magazine is provided, said magazine in the presentembodiment of the invention holding the cards so that they standvertically on their lower edges. The magazine has sides which serve toretain the cards endwise and also serve as uides in which a card-slidingmember is tted for picking one card from the pack at a time and slidingit toward the platen. Said card-sliding member has a surface or faceagainst which the front of the pack is pressed, the rear of the packbeing pushed upon by a. suitable plate against which a suitable force isapplied, as, for example, the force of a spring reacting upon saidplate. The face of the card-slide member or card-slide as it may becalled, against which the front of the pack is thus pressed, has adownwardly-extending tongue, which co-operates with a sharp-edgedprojection extending forward of the plate, which forms the bottom of thecardmagazine. Said projection and tongue thus form a gap or throatthrough which only one card at a time may be passed.

The card-slide is preferably a casting in the form of a plate reinforcedby ribs to secure the necessary stiffness for maintaining the properwidth of the throat through which each card is passed. The'surface ofthe cardslide'i against which the face of the pack is pressed may berelieved on each side of a strip which is retained to form the throat,or said surface may be an even plane. The cardslide has along its upperedge a picker-knife, which projects beyond the card-slide face and isnormally somewhat above the upper edges of the cards, so as to insurethat the edge of said picker-knife will pick off the first card when thecard-sliding member is moved downwardly. The picker-knife is a flatblade of tool-steel having a sharp scraper-like edge, by means of whichthe upper edge of the first card of the stack is engaged. Said edgeprojects beyond the face of the card-slide to the usual extent, say,three-fourths the thickness of a card. A cross-member spans the upperedges 'of the sides of the magazine and is above the front portion ofthe card-stack, so that fingers depending therefrom may engage the upperfront edge of said stack, as will be shown, and prevent its fallingcfoaward as the card-slide is moved down to feed a card to the slit of theplaten. Said crossmember also serves to support a latch, whereby thecard-slide is held in its upward normal position. The card-slide ismoved up and down manually, and the'latch is so devised that it mayeasily be manipulated to release the card-slide withthe samemanipulation with which said card-slide is grasped to begin its downwardcard-feeding movement.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional side elevation showing enough of thetypewriter and perforator to illustrate the invention. In said elevationthere is included a typewriter-carriage and its platen, and thecard-feeding means of the invention arranged over said platen.

Figure 2 is a top plan view, showing the typewriter-carriage and suchportions of the typewriter and card-perforator as are necessary toillustrate the arrangement of the card-feeding'means in respect to saidtypewriter and card-perforator.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of some details of thecard-feeding means, said view showing particularly the manner ofproviding the gap or throat at the bottom of the card-magazineforsecuring the passage of only one card at a time from said magazine.

Figure 4 is a front elevational View, showing the typewriter-platen withthe means forming the card-receiving slit thereon, the card-feedingmeans above the platen, and the means whereby said card-feeding meansare secured to a rear column of the typewriter.

Figure 5 is a side elevation showing the typewriter-platen and thecard-feeding means above said platen. This view illustrates how thecard-slide of the card-magazine, when moved downwardly, strips :1 cardfrom the front of a pack in said magazine, so that the lower end of saidcard enters the aforesaid slit which extends longitudinally of saidplaten.

Figure 6 includes a fragmentary front elevation and cross-sectional sideelevation of the card-magazine; said elevations serve to illustrate alatch for holding the card-feeding slide in its normal operativeposition.

F igure? shows means for taking up play in the guides for thecard-slide.

Figure 8 shows how resilient members may be applied to the surface ofthe card-feeding slide to facilitate the entry of the lower edge of acard into the slit that extends longitudinally of the platen.

Figure 9 is a front elevation, showing the.

platen and the card-slide of the card-feeding means in its extremedownward position. This view also shows an arrangement of stops, wherebythe downward movement" of said card-slide may be limited.

The combined typewriter and card-perforator has a platen 10 revolublymounted in a platen-frame having sides 11 in which the platen axle 12 isjournalled The platenframe is supported in a letter-feeding carriage 13which runs in letter-feeding and re verse directions upon rails 14 and15. A spring drum 16 urges the carriage in letterfeeding stepscontrolled by the usual escapement mechanism, generally indicated by thenumber 17 said escapement mechanism in cluding a letter-feeding pinion18 which meshes with a letter-feeding rack 19 on the carriage. The usualprinting instrun'1ent ali ties include numeral keys 20, alphabet keys 21and type-bars 22, which are parts of the well-known Underwood typeaction indicated in Figure 1. The carriage-guide rails 14 and 15 aresupported in the typewriter framework 23.

the punches for punching a card, and is separated from the lowerpunch-guiding plate by a gap 29 which receives the card to be punched.The card is drawn into punching position in said gap by means of theusual feed-rolls 30 which are geared to a main shaft 31 of theperforator.

Above the nest of punches and aligned endwise thereof is a similarlyarranged nest of index-pins 33, one for each punch. The index-pins aremovable endwise in the frames 32 and 32 which retain and guide them andmay be set by such endwise movement to render their respective puncheseffective to punch a card. Each column of index-pins has aspring-pressed latch-plate 34 which cooperates with notches 35 in theindex-pins to.

hold them down when they are set. The lower punch-guiding plate anddie-plate 28 are parts of a card-frame, generally indicated by thenumber 24, which is movable upwardly to effect perforation of a cardwhich may be in the gap 29 of said card-frame. Thus, punches which havetheir index-pins setare caused to penetrate the card as said card-frameis moved upwardly. The other punches over which no index-pins have beenset are moved upwardly and idly as said cardframe is raised. Uponlowering the frame, the card is stripped from the punches as thedownward movement of the punches, which have penetrated the card, isarrested when the shoulders of said punches encounter the upperpunch-guided plate 26. The cardframe is moi'ed up and down for effectingpunching of the card by means of the usual rockahle frame 36, each endof which is pivoted to a main frame 37 at 38. Said rockable frame 36 isrocked by means of the usual cam 39 which is .keyed to the mainperforator shaft 31.

- The index-pins 33 are settable in one column at a time, and, for thussetting said pins, there is provided the usual column of pinsettingplunger-s 40. For moving the pinsetting plungers 40 from column tocolumn of the index-pins, they are mounted in the usualdenomination-determining-carriage 41, which runs upon guides 42 and 43.

To cause the denomination-determiningcarriage 41 with its column ofpin-setting plunge-rs 40 to move from column to column of the nest ofindex-pins, said carriage 11 is positively connected to thetypewritercarriage 13. The connections include, shown in theaforementioned application, a rack 49 fastened to thedenomination-detern1ining-carriage and a rack 50 fastened to thetypewritor-carriage. The r'acks'are connected by an intermediate pinion51 which may rotate about a stud 52 conveniently mounted upon aplatform53. Said platform 53 is fastened to the perforator framework 37 and alsoserves to direct a card to the first pair of feed-rolls 30, in a mannerto be described presently.

The combined typewriter and perforator herein illustrated is used fortyping headings along the upper margin of a card 54, which is placedaround the platen 10 of the typewriter. As the heading is typed,corresponding index-pins 33 are set at each key operation. After thetyping of the heading is finished';the card 54 is removed from theplaten and its leading edge presented to the first pair of feed-rolls30. The pressing of the usual trip-key (not shown) at. the typewriterkeyboard initiates a cycle of the card-perforator during which its mainshaft 31 makes just one revolution. During this revolution, thefeed-rolls are rotated and draw the card which is presented to the firstpair of said feed-rolls into punching position in the gap 29 under thepunches 25. The extent to which the card is drawn into said gap isdetermined by means of the usual stop 55. The feed-rolls draw the cardinto punching position during the first portion of the perforator-cycle.In the latter portion of said cycle the card-frame 24 is raised andlowered to effect perforation of the card. At the end of said cycle, thecard remains in the gap 29 and is ejected from said gap into areceptacle 56 when another cycle is initiated. By means of the usualdevices (not shown), the stop is withdrawn long enough to permit theejection of a card from the gap 29.

The typed heading along the upper margin of the card is descriptive ofthe holes which are punched in said card. In order that a card 54 placedaround the platen 10 may have said upper margin quickly and definitelybrought to the printing line on the typewriter, the lower edge of thecard is inserted and bottomed in a slit 57 which is arranged tangent tothe platen and runs lengthwise thereof. This slit is best formed bysecuring to the surface of the platen a strip 58 of thin material, saynot over of an inch thick, so

. as not to create an undue bulge in the platen surface. The slit itselfis formed by a step in the margin of said strip, as is best shown inFigures 1, 5 and 8, so that the slit is included between the surface ofthe platen and the stepped margin. The strip may be fastened to theplaten by means of a number of screws 59, which are preferably threadedinto the core of the platen. The slit 57, when a card is to be insertedtherein, is at the front of the platen and at about the level of theprinting line, as shown in Figure 5.

Instead of. 'nserting a card into said slit by hand in the mannerpracticed heretofore, the present invention provides a card-feedingdevice which will now be described in detail. It being the object of theinvention to enable an operator to quickly pick a card from a pack ofblank cards and insert it directly and quickly as possible into saidslit, there is provided above the platen a magazine for holding, say,several hundred cards, said magazine being generally indicated by thenumber 60. As shown in Figure 1, the cards stand vertically upon theirlower edges in said magazine, which includes a card-slide 61 which ismovable downwardly for the purpose of picking off the first card of thepack which is pressed against the face of said card-slide. In pickingoff the first card of the pack, the card-slide 61 also moves said cardtoward the slit 57 of the typewriter platen. The cardmagazine has a baseportion 62 and side portions 63. Each side portion 63 has near its frontedge a groove 64 which forms a sliding bearing for the card-slide 61.For keeping the first card of a pack, or, in other words, the packitself against the face of the card-slide 61, a plate 65 is providedtoact as a pusher against the rear of the pack. Said plate pushesagainst said pack by means of a spring 66, one end of which reacts uponsaid plate, and the other end of which reacts upon a plate 67 extendingupwardly from the rear edge of the magazine base. The plate 65 has aswivel connection 68 to .a rod 69, said rod serving to withdraw saidplate from the pack of cards or the face of the card-slide as may berequired. To facilitate said withdrawal, said rod may have a handle 70fastened to the rear end thereof, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. Thepurpose of the swivel connection is to enable the face of the plate 65to always bear squarely against the rear of the pack of cards, and saidswivel connection is preferably in the form of a balland-socket jointindicated in Figure-1. The side edges of the pusher plate 65 may beprovided with rollers 71 which may engage grooves in the sides 63 of thecard-magazine, said rollers thus serving to guide the plate in ahorizontal direction relative to the magazine.

In order that only one card may be stripped off the pack at a time,there is provided at the base-portion 62 of the card-magazine a onecardgap or throat 72, best shown in Figure 3. The throat is formed by andbetween a sharp edge of a hardened block 74 which may be an insert ortongue projected beyond the frontedge of the magazine-base-portion and atongue 75 which projects downwardly from the lower edge of thecard-slide and across said front edge, said downwardly projecting tonguebeing best shown in Figure 4. It is a feature of the invention that oneside of the throat is formed by a portion of the card-slide. On eitherside of the throat the card-passage is widened, as shown at Figure 3, toprovide for the usual curvature or warping of the card passedtherethrough. It will also be noted that the face of the card-slide issubstantially coextensive with the face of a card, thus making itpossible that one side of the throat may be formed by the face of saidslide and also that said slide may be guided in the sides of themagazine. By thus forming one side of the throat as part of thecard-slide and guiding said slide in the acard from the pack.Heretofore, in cardfeeding devices for comparatively thin cards, such asherein shown, the card-slide in stripping a card from a pack usuallymoved the card only part-way from the pack, or, in

other words, just far enough to bring the leading edge of the card thatwas being stripped between a pair of feed-rolls or a similar devicewhereby the stripping of the card from the pack was completed.

Fastened to the top of the card-slide is a picker-knife 7 6, whichengages the upper edge of the first card and only said first card;-

Said knife therefore has a straight sharp edge that projects beyond theface of the card-slide to the extent of say three-fourths of thethickness of a card. -In order that this extent may be adjusted, thepicker-knife may have elongated holes 77 through which pass screws 7 8that secure the picker-knife to the top of the card-slide.

Inorder that the pack of cards may not fall forward when the card-slideis moved down, as in Figure 5 for example, there are provided fingers 79whichoverlap the top front edge of the pack of cards. Said fingers havea horizontal portion 80 which prevents upward displacement of the frontcards as the cardslide is returned to its normal position. The fingers 79 may be formed at the end of strips 81 depending from a cross-member 82which spans the sides 63 of the card-magazine. said sides and may befastened thereto by means of screws 83.

The top of the card-slide has, as shown in Figure 4, depressions 84below the surface upon which thepicker-knife is placed, said depressionsbeing formed to clear the packholding fingers 79 when the card-slide isin its extreme upper position. As already stated, the side edges of thecard-slide are fitted in grooves 64 of the sides of the cardmagazine. Inorder that the card-slide may have a sufficient extent of bearing insaid grooves, said slide is provided with upward extensions 85 whichextend its sides. The sides of the card-magazine are also provided withdownward extensions 86 along which the grooves 64 may be extended andsaid downward extensions may reach almost to the path described by thesides 11 of the platen-frame.

' The lower, ends of said extensions 86, however, must clear said sidesof the platen-frame or whatever other projection of thetypewriter-carriage might interfere with said ends as said carriage ismoved to and fro.

The card-slide may be held in its normal upward position by frictionwhich may be the friction occasioned by the pressure of the pack ofcards against the face of the card slide or there may be enough frictionbetween the edges of the card-slide and the grooves 64,

Said cross-member 82 serves to brace in which said edges are guided.Preferably, however, a latch for holding the card-slide in its upperosition is to be provided and is to be of such orm that it may easily becaused to release the card-slide as said slide is grasped to begin itsdownward movement. Figure 6 shows a suitable latch in both front andside elevations. The latch itself is a spring-' pressed swingable member88 which is hinged to a member 89 which is fastened to theaforementioned cross-inember 82 that spans the sides of thecard-magazine. A spring 90, coiled around the hinge-pin 91, servestopress the latch-member 88 toward the card-slide so that a hook-shapedend portion 92 of Said latch-member may engage the picker-knife edge andthereby hold the card-slide. The face of thecard-slide has a depression93 which clears said hook-shaped portion. For

- turned to its upper position. The latch-releasing pin 94 extendsforward sufficiently so that it may easily be manipulated by one of thefingers of the operators hand as said hand grasps the card-slide tobegin its downward movement. For such downward movement, the card-slidemay be grasped at the portion formed by the picker-knife and a ledge 96of the card-slide. Said ledge is part of the ribbed portion 97 which isformed upon the outer surface of the card-slide to stiffen the same. Thecard-slide may be regarded as a plate re-enforced by said ribbed portionand said plate is preferably a casting which may be made of aluminum oraluminum alloy to secure lightness.

Figure 1 shows acard in position around the platen 10 of the typewriterso that its upper margin may be typed upon. This position is definitelyand quickly determined by said position position the stop-pin 98 abutsthe lower end of said fixture 99. The arrangement of said stop-pin 98and fixture 99 is similar to that disclosed in the aforementionedapplication of Kurowski.

As the heading is typed upon the card the typewriter-carriage moves inletter-feeding steps toward the left, while the denomination-determiningcarriage of the perforator moves by reason of its aforesaid connectionsto the typewriter-carriage from left to right. When the typing of theheading upon the card is finished, the typewriter-carriage will haveadvanced to a position which ma correspond with the position of theusual le t carriage-stop, indicated at 100 (Figure 2). In such advancedposition, the sides of the card in the platen of the typewriter will bein line with guides 101 upon the aforementioned perforator platform 53.The platen is now rotated contrariwise from the rotation which broughtit to the position shown in Figure 1, so that it assumes the positionshown in Figure 5. In this position, the card may be removed from theslit 57, which is now at the front of the platen, and may be slid overtable-surfaces 103 of the typewritercarriage onto the perforatorplatform 53 and directly into and between the guides 101, forresentation to the first pair of perforatoreed-rolls 30. Upon pressingthe aforementioned trip-key, a perforator-cycle is initiated duringwhich, as already explained, the card is drawn into punching positionand caused to be punched. The removal of the card from thetypewriter-platen and its insertion in the perforator and the punchingof said card must precede the return of the typewriter and perforatorcarriages, because, during said return, the perforator-index-pins 33,which were set during the typing of the heading, are caused, to berestored by the return movement of the perforator-carriage. It isobvious that if the carriages were to be returned before the punchingwas effected, the setting of the index-pins would be wiped out and wouldnot be available for punching the card according to the heading whichwas typed. The restoration of the perforatorindex-pins 33 is effected bythe usual means which include a roll 104 (Figure 1) on theperforator-carriage, said roll when properly positioned being effectivethrough the medium of levers 102 to push aside the indexpin-latch-plates34; during the return movement of the perforator-carriage, as fullyexplained in the aforementioned pending application of Kurowski.

In order not to obstruct the passing of a card from thetypewriter-platen to the feed- 1 rolls of the perforator, thecard-magazine is positioned to the right of the path of movement of thecard from said platen tolsaid feed-rolls, or, in other words, saidmagazine is so positioned that it is above the platen when thetypewriter-carriage is in its initial position. The position of thecard-magazine is best shown in Figure 2. For supporting the cardmagazine in said position, there is provided a fixture, generallyindicated by the number 105, said fixture being preferably secured tothe rear right-hand column 106 of 'the typewriter-framework. The form ofsaid fixture is best shown in Figures 1, 2, and 4. As shown in Figure 4said fixture 105 has a crook to clear theright-hand bracket 107 of thepair of brackets which support the carriage-coupling rack 50 said crookbeing formed by the portions 108, 109, and 110 of said fixture. All ofsaid portions are L-shaped in section to secure the necessary stiffness.The portion 110 has a surface 111 upon which rests the card-magazine,which is secured to said surface by means of screws 112, as shown inFigures 2 and 4. A portion 113 of said magazine-supportingfixtureadjacent to the column 106 of the typewriter framework is also L-shapedin section, the ribs 114 of said portion 113 being formed to follow theoutline of said column to which the fixture is attached by three screws115.

When a card is to be stripped from the pack in the magazine and itslower edge inserted into the platen-slit 57, the card-slide of saidmagazine is gripped and moved downwardly until said lower edge bottomsin said slit, as shown in Fi ure 5. As will be seen in said Figure 5,tliecard is at this stage not fully stripped from the pack. Theoperator, when this stage is reached, is ready to turn the platen in thedirection of the arrow and so turns the platen with one hand while theother hand still grips the card-slide and continues, with said otherhand. to feed the card downwardly until the top edge of the card isflush with the top of the magazinebase-portion, as shown in F i ure 9.Further movement of the card-slide is now prevented by suitable stopswhich may, as shown in Figure 9, be in'the form of pins 116 and 117projecting from the card-slide and the sides of the magazine,respectively. In the movement of the card from the position indicated inFigure 5 to the position indicated in Figure 9, the lower edge of thecard will be slightly crimped or bent, due to the curvature of theplaten-surface to which said slit thus conforms. Due to this bending ofthe lower edge of the card and the limited thickness of the slit 57,there is sufiicient gripping efi'ect upon the ortion of the card withinthe slit to draw t e card along as the rotation of the platen iscontinued until the card is gripped between the platen and the usualfeed-rolls 118, which cooperate with said platen to complete the advanceof the card to printing position. It is important that suflicientgripping action be assured by suitable proportions of the thickness anddepth of the slit 57. Said thickness for a card of say six-thousandthsof an inch in thickness should not be over say one-sixtyfourths of aninch and the depth of the slit should he say from three-sixteenths toonefourth of an inch. It will be apparent that notwithstanding thenarrow thickness of said slit, a card may be-easily inserted therein bythe card-feedin means herein shown, and that said card-feeding meansco-operating with said slit and the platen-positioning device, embodiedin-the stop-pin 98 -and stopfixture 99, serve to quickly pick a cardfrom the pack in the magazine and position said card with its uppermargin at the printingline ready for typing with practically onesweeping movement.

Referring to Figures 4 and 9, it is seen that the lower edge of thecard-slide-side, except the throat-forming tongue projecting from saidlower edge, is somewhat above thelower edge of the card to expose theleading margin of said card, so that it may be inserted in, and grippedby, the slit 57. Owing to this and depending upon the condition of thecards, it may be necessary to slightly deflect said loweredge of a cardtoward the platen as said card is pushed toward said platen and beforeit enters the slit 57, said deflection being desirable to assure thatthe lower edge of the card will not encounter the top of the strip 58 inwhich said slit is formed. Such deflection may be secured by means ofresilient strips 119, preferably made of thin springy material. Saidstrips are recessed and fastened in grooves 120 (Figure 9) formed in theface of the card-slide. The resiliency of said strips should not begreater than isnecessary to deflect the lower edge of the cardsufliciently to clear the upper edge of the strip 58. Such resiliency iseasily overcome by the pressure upon the pack of cards so that the frontof said pack will lie squarelyagainst th face of the card-slide whensaid slideis in its upper position. It is only when the card-slide ismoved downwardly that the strips 119 become effective to deflect thelower edge of the card.

The strip 58, in which the slit 57 is formed, has a notch 121 thatclears the throat-forming tongue 75 of the card-slide. The upwardmovement of the card-slide is limited by the striking of the upper endsof the extensions 85 of said slide against the under surface of thecross-member 82 of the card-magazine. When the card-slide is in itsnormal upper position, the edge of the picker-knife should be above thetop of the pack to the extent of, say, one-sixteenth to one-eighth of aninch in order to assure that said pickerknife will pick ofl a card asthe slide is moved downwardly. I j

In Figure 7 are shown details of means whereby the grooves in which thesides of the card-slide are guided may be adjusted to take up playbetween said grooves and said sides. It is important that this play betaken up in order that the width of the throat 72 be maintained. Asshown in said Figure 7, the grooves in which the sides of the card slideare guided are formed between front edges of the modifiedcard-magazine-sides and adjustable strips 123, which may extend alongand overlap said front edges, as shown in said Figure 7. Said strips aresecured to the sides of the magazine by screws 124 and may be adjustedto contract or expand said grooves by reason of enlargement of theclearance-holes 125 in said strips through which said screws pass.

Means (not shown) for moving the throat block 74 toward or away from thetongue 75 may be provided to adjust the width of the throat formed bysaid block and tongue. Such means for adjustment may, however, bedispensed with if the machine .is used for cards of uniform thickness.The width of the throat is made equal to one and onequarter of thethickness of a card.

The height of the card-magazine above the typewriter-platen may bevaried from that shown in the drawings. For example, said height may besuch that when a card is fully stripped off the pack, or, in otherwords, when the edge of the picker-knife is about flush with the top ofthe base-portion 62 of the magazine, the lower edge of the card willjust have reached the bottom of the slit 57. Such an arrangementof theheight of the magazine might be desirable in order to facilitate the useof one of the well-known devices for quickly rotating the platen tobring the portion of the card to be typed upon quickly to the printingpoint, it being desirable when operating such a device that the card beentirely free of the pressure impressed upon the pack.

It will be understood that a device for quickly rotating the platerr'may, however, also be used if the height of the card-magazine is asshown in the drawings. It is also understood that variation of theheight of the magazine above the platen may be made within the scope ofthe invention.

The rod 69, whereby the pusher-plate pushing upon the pack of cards iswithdrawn, may be prevented from turning by suitable means, as, forexample, a slot 129 which extends lengthwise of said rod and whichcooperates with a key 130 to prevent said turning of the rod. Thisturning is to be prevented so that, in the arrangement of parts 7 shown,the handle 70 on the end of said rod may not fall over and interferewith the free movement of the parts that couple the typewriter andperforator carriages.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, andportions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A device for quickly presenting cards of the character hereindescribed to the printing instrumentalities of a typewriter, said deviceincluding a revoluble typewriter-platen having a card-receivingandgaging slit substantially tangent to its surface, said slit beinglimited in its transverse thickness and curved in substantial comformitywith the platen-surface so that it is self-acting in nipping andcarrying along a card upon rota tion of the platen, and a card'feedingmechanism having means for advancing one of said cards at a time from apack and inserting the leading margin thereof in said slit, so that byrotation of the platen following upon said insertion, said card may be'carried to printing position.

2. A device for quickly presenting cards of the characterherein'described to the printing instrumentalities of a front-striketypewriter, said device including a revoluble typewriter-platen having acard receiving and gaging slit substantially tangent to its surface,said slit being limited in its transverse thickness and curved insubstantial conformity with the platen-surface, so that it is selfactingin nipping and carrying along a card upon rotation of the platen, and acard-feed- .ing mechanism having means for advancing one of said cardsat a time from a pack above the platen and inserting the leading marginthereof in said slit when said slit is at the front of the platen, sothat by rotation of the platen following upon said insertion, said cardmay be carried to printing position.

3. A device for quickly presenting cards. of the character hereindescribed? to the printing instrumentalities of a front-striketypewriter, said device including a revoluble typewriter-platen having acard receiving and gaging slit substantially tangent to its surface,said slit being limited in itstransverse thickness and curved insubstantial conformity with the platen-surface, so that it isself-acting in nipping and carrying along a card upon rotation of theplaten, a

card-feeding mechanism having means for advancin one of said cards at atime from a pack above the platen and inserting the leading marginthereof in said slit when said slit is at the front of the platen, sothat by, rotation of the platen following upon said insertion, said cardmay be carried to printing position, and means limiting the range ofrotation of said platen between the position in which said slit is atthe frontof the platen, as aforesaid, and the position in which theportion of the card to be typed uponwill have been brought to theprinting line.

4. A card-feeding device'for a ty ewriting machine including a box-likecar -magazine having a base-portion, sides rising from said base-portionfor guiding a pack of cards laterally, a plate-like card-slide extendingbetween, and guided by, said sides, said card-slide having a facesubstantially coextensive with the fare of a pack of cards in saidmagazine, said magazine having a throat to permit the passage of but onecard at atime, said throat being formed by and between a sharp edgeprojected from the end of said base-portion and an opposite tongueextending from the card-slide and across said end, the surface of saidtongue forming part of the face of said cardslide and extending beyondan edge there of which is short of the leading margin of a card, so asto expose and permit gripping of said margin, and a picker-knife formingpart of said slide projecting beyond the face thereof for picking onecard at a time from said pack and pushing it through said throat whensaid slide is operated and a typewriter-platen having a card-receivingslit of slightly greater width than the thickness of the card, effectiveafter the card has been fed into the slit by the slide, for grippingsaid margin of the card and advancing the card into the machine.

5. A card-feeding device for a typewriting machine including a box-likecard-magazine having a base-portion, sides risin from said base-portionfor guiding a pac: of cards laterally, a plate-like card-slide extendingbetween, and guided by, said sides, said card-slide having a facesubstantially coextensive with the face of a packof cards in saidmagazine, said magazine having a throat to permit the passage of but onecard at a time, said throatbeing formed by and between a sharp edgeprojected from the end of said base-portion and an opposite tongueextending from the card-slide and across said end, the surface of saidtongue forming part. of the face of said cardslide' and extending beyondan edge thereof which is short of the leading margin of a card, so as toexpose and permit gripping of margin of the card and advancing the cardinto the machine. v

6. A card-feeding device for a typewriting machine including a box-likecard-magazine having a base-portion, sides rising from said base-portionfor guiding a pack of cards laterally, a plate-like card-slide extendingbetween, and guided by, said sides, said cardslide having a facesubstantially coextensive with the face of a pack of cards-in saidmagazine, said magazine having a throat to perniit the assage of but onecard at a time, said throat eing formed by a sharp edge projected fromthe end of said base-portion and an opposite tongue extending from thecardwhich is short of the leading margin of a card,

so as to expose and permit gripping of said margin, and a picker-knifeforming part of said slide projecting beyond the face thereof forpicking one card at a time from said pack and pushing it through saidthroat when said slide is operated, said card-slide being slidable froma normal position in which it is ready to begin feeding a card from saidpack to a position in which it has moved sufliciently to completelystrip a card from said pack, and a typewriter-platen having acard-receiving slit of slightly greater width than the thickness of thecard, effective after the card has been fed into the slit of the slide,for gripping said margin of the card and advancing the card into themachine. g

7. A card-feeding device for a typewriting machine including a box-likecard-magazine having a base-portion, sides rising from said base-portionfor guiding a pack of cards laterally, a plate like card-slide extendedbetween, and guided by, said sides, said cardslide vertically movableand having a face substantially coextensive with the face of a pack ofcards in said magazine, said magazine having a throatto permit thepassage of but one card at a time, said throat being formed by andbetween a sharp edge projected from'the end of said base-portion and anopposite tongue extending from the cardslide and across said end, thesurface of said tongue forming part of the face of said cardslide andextending beyond an edge thereof which is short of the leading margin ofa card, so as to expose and permit gripning of said margin,-apicker-knife forming'part of said slide and projecting beyond the facethereof for picking one card at a time from said pack and pushing itthrough said throat when said slide is v operated, said card-slide beingslidable from a normal position in which it is ready to begin feeding acard from said pack to a position in which it has moved sufficiently tocompletely strip a card from said pack, means for holding the card-slidein its normal position against accidental displacement,and atypewriter-platen having a card-receiving slit of slightly greater widththan the thickness of the card, effective after the card has been fedinto the slit by the slide, for gripping said margin of the card andadvancing the card into the machine.

8., A card-feeding device for a typewriting machine including a box-likecard-magazine having a base-portion, sides rising from said base portionfor guiding a'pack of cards laterally, a plate-like card-slide extendingbetween, and guided by, said sides, said cardslide vertically movableand having a face substantially coextensive with the face of a pack ofcards in said magazine, said magazine having a throat to permit thepassage of but one card at a time, said throat being formed by andbetween a sharp edge projected from the end of said base-portion and anopposite tongue extending from the card-slide and across said end, thesurface of said tongue forming part of the face of said card-slide andextending beyond an edge thereof'which is short of the leading margin ofa card, so as toexpose and permit gripping of said margin, apicker-knifeforming part of said slide and projecting beyond the facethereof for pick ing one card at 'a time from said pack and pushing itthrough said throat when said slide is operated, said card-slide beingslidable from a normal position in which it is ready to begin feeding acard from said pack to a position'in which it has moved sufficiently tocompletely strip a card from said pack, latching means for holding thecard-slide in its normal position, said latching means including areleasing device operable to release said slide preparatory to feeding acard from said pack, and a typewriter-platen having a cardreceiving slitof slightly greater width than the thickness oflthe card, effectiveafter the card has been fed into the 'slit by the slide, for grippingsaid margin of the card and advancing the card into the machine.

9. A card-feeding device for a typewriting machine including a box-likecard-magazine having a base-portion, sides rising from said base-portionfor guiding a pack of cards an opposite tongue extending fromthe card-'slide and across said end portion, the surface of said tongue formingpart of the face of said card-slide and extending beyond an edgethereof-which is short of the leading margin of a card, so as to exposeand permit gripping of sald margin, a plcker-knlfe forming part of saidslide and projecting beyond the face I thereof for picking one card at atime from said pack and pushing it through said throat when said slideis operated, said'card-slide having a portion whereby it may be manuallygripped to move it from a normal position in which it is ready to beginfeedinga cardfrom said pack to a position in which it has movedsufficiently to completely strip the card from said pack, latching meansfor holding said card-slide in its normal position, said latching meansincluding a releasing device adjacent said-gripping portion so that theslide may be released with substantially the same manipulation, wherebysaid slide is grasped to begin its card-feeding movement, and atypewriter-platen having a card-receiving slit of slightly greater widththan the thickness of the card, effective after the card has been fedinto the slit by the slide, for gripping said margin of the card andadvancing the card into the machine. a

10. A device for quickly presenting cards of the character hereindescribed to the printing instrumentalities of a front-striketypewriter, said device including a revoluble typewriter-platen having acard receiving and gaging slit substantially tangent to its surface, anda card-feeding mechanism having means for advancing one of said cards ata time from a pack and inserting the leading margin thereof in said slitwhen said slit is at the front of the platen, said card-feedingmechanism including a magazine for holding said pack and fixed inrelation to the typewriter and above the path of platen travel in suchposition that the outermost card of the pack in said magazine is inlinewith said slit when said slit is at the front of the platen.

11. A device for quickly presenting cards of the character hereindescribed to the printing instrumentalities of a front-striketypewriter, said device including a revoluble typewriter-platen having acard receiving and gaging slit substantially tangent to its surface, anda card-feeding mechanism having means for advancing one of said cards ata time from a pack and inserting the leading margin thereof in said slitwhen said slit is at the front of the platen, said card-feedingmechanism including a magazine for holding said pack, said magazinehaving a card-ejecting slide and being fixed in relation to thetypewriter and above the pathof platen travel in such position that theface of said slide against which said pack bears is in line with saidslit when said slit is at the front of the platen.

1-2. A device for quicklypresenting cards of the character hereindescribed to the printing instrumentalities of a front-striketvpewriter, said device including a revoluble typewriter-platen having acard receiving and gaging slit substantially tangent to its surface, acard-feeding mechanism in cluding a magazine having a card-ejectingslide for feeding one card at a time from a pack and inserting theleading margin thereof in said slit. and resilient means carried by saidcard-slide for deflecting the aforesaid leading margin of said cardtoward the platen sufficiently to facilitate the entry of the card intosaid slit.

13. A device for quickly presenting cards of the character hereindescribed to the printing instrumentalities of a front-striketypewriter, said device including a revoluble typewriter-platen having acard receiving and gaging slit substantially tangent to its surface, :1ca rd-feeding mechanism having means for advancing one of' said cards ata time from a pack and inserting the leading margin thereof in said'slitwhe'nflsaid slit is at the front of the platen, said card-feedingmechanism including a magazine fol-holding said pack, said magazinehaving a cardejecting slide, and means for supporting said magazine insuch'fixed position relative to the platen that the face of the cardslide is in line with the printing line of theplaten.

14. A device for quickly presenting cards of the character hereindescribed to the printing instrumentalities of a front-striketypewriter,said device including a revoluble typewriter-platen having a cardreceiving and gaging slit substantially tangent to its surface, aletter-feeding carriage for said platen, a card-feeding mechanism havingmeans for advancing one of said cards at a time from a pack andinserting the leading margin thereof in said slit when said slit is atthe front of the platen, said mechanism including a magazine for holdingsaid pack, said magazine having a card-ejecting slide, and means forsupporting said magazine in such fixed position relative to the platenthat the face of card-ejecting slide is in line with the printing lineof the platen, and so that the typewriter-carriage with said platen isin cardreceiving position when said carriage is in position forbeginning a line of writing.

15. A card-feeding device for typewrit'ing machines, including acard-magazine having a support upon which cards in a pack rest edgewise,a card-ejecting slide, means for guiding said slide in a range ofmovement sufficient to completely strip a card from said pack, athroatpermitting the passage of only one card at a time, said throat formed byand between the face of the card-slide against which said pack bears anda sharp edge of a surface projected beyond said support, said surfacebeing part of a substantially central tongue-like extension projectedbeyond said support to form with said card-slide and the ends of saidsupport a card-passage constricted at its middle portion by said throatand substantially wider at each side of said throat to allow for theusual warping and curvature of the cards passed therethrough, and atypewriter-platen having a card-receiving slit of slightly greater widththan the thickness of the card, effective after the card has been fedinto theslit by the slide, for gripping the card and advancing it intothe machine.

16. A device for quickly presenting cards of the character hereindescribed to the printing instrumentalities of a typewriter, said deviceincluding a revoluble typewriterplaten having a card receiving andgaging slit substantially tangent to its surface, said slit beinglimited in its transverse thickness and curved in substantial conformitywith the platen-surface, so that it is self-acting in nipping andcarrying along a card upon rotation of the platen, feed-rollsco-operating with said platen to draw and hold the card around saidplaten, and a card-feeding mechanism having means for advancing one ofsaid cards at a time from a pack above the platen and inserting theleading margin thereof in said slit when said slit is at the front ofthe platen, so that, by rotation of the platen following upon saidinsertion, said card may be carried to the feed-rolls and then, throughcooperation of said feed-rolls, be carried to printing position, saidslit in its card-receiving position being ahead of said feed-rolls andarranged to pass said feed-rolls as the platen is rotated.

17. A device for quickly presenting cards of the character hereindescribed to the printing instrulnentalities of a typewriter, saiddevice including a revoluble typewriter-platen, a card receiving andgaging device forming part of said platen for holding and gaging theleading margin of a card against said platen, feed-rolls co-operatingwith said platen to draw and hold a card therearound, and a cardieedingmechanism having means for advancing one of said cards at a time from apack above the platen and presenting the leading margin thereof to saidcard-receiving device when said device is at the front of the platen, sothat, by rotation of the platen following upon said presentation, saidcard may be carried 'to the feed-rolls and then, through cooperation ofsaid feed-rolls be carried to printing position, said card-receivingdevice in its card-receiving position being ahead of said feed-rolls,and being arranged to pass said r'eed-rolls as the platen is rotated.

18. A typewriting machine including a 20. In a typewriting machine, aplaten, a card-holder longitudinally located thereon to receive the edgeof a card to be typed, a magazine to hold cards prior to typing, meansto feed the cards individually to the platen, including guides on theend of the card-maga- Zinc and a plate effective to slide in said guideshaving means to engage a card to be fed, a bottom for saidmagazinehaving a front cardgaging edge, and a downward extensiontongueon the plate of less width than the plate, a recess being included insaid cardholder effective to receive said tongue, said tongue effectiveto co-operate with said edge,

whereby only one card can pass therebetween at a time, said plateefiective by a downward motion to insert the lower edge of the engagedcard in the cardholder ready to be typed.

21. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a card-magazine havinga bottom against which the cards may rest, a slidable card-feeling plateforming one end of the magazine, having a tongue depending therefrom,forming a space between the same and the end of the magazine bottom,whereby one card at a time may pass therethrough, said plate havingcard-engaging means to feed. a card through said space, and a platenhaving a card-holder to receive the engaged card for typing whendepressed by the plate, said card-holder having a recess to receive thetongue when the plate is depressed.

JESSE A. B. SMITH.

card-holding magazine, a sliding front plate for the same, effective tofeed a card therefrom, a bottom member for said magazine for the cardsto rest upon, and a depending portion of said plate forming a gagingspace therebetween to permit the cards to pass singly, means included insaid plate to engage the top of the card to be fed, and a platen havinga slot efiective to receive the lower edge of said card, under pressure,from said means, said depending portion of the plate effective to holdthe lower end of the card against the platen when the card is beingpressed into the slot.

19. A typewriting machine including a card'holding magazine, a slidingfront plate for the same, efi'ective to feed a card, a bottom member forsaid magazine and a depending portion of said plate forming a gagingspace therebetween to permit a single card to pass, means on said plateto engage the top of the card to be fed, and a platen including acardholder to receive the lower edge of said card ready to type, saidcard-holder having a notch to receive said depending portion when theplate is depressed to insert the card in the holder.

